When did we see thee?

Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Matthew 25:34-40

The above passage is probably the most commonly cited scripture on performing scripture. When used in church I've generally heard the emphasis placed on the last part, "Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." But when I was studying this passage of scripture this week something struck me about the question posed by the righteous. After being told that they had performed all these great deeds in God's service they were surprised, and they asked when they had done such a thing. My thought was why were they so surprised? Sure some of them may not have realized that they were serving God by serving their fellow man, but I think there might be something else there that may serve as a valuable lesson. I don't think that serving our fellowman because we desire to serve God is the best motive for service.

First I must say that I believe that it is good to serve our fellow man out of a desire to serve God. But I don't believe God really needs our service. He is a God after all, and anything we can do, he can do better and faster. In truth I think we are the true beneficiaries when we serve God, because of what we can learn from him when we do.

I believe that a higher motive for our service would be to serve our fellowman out of love for our fellowman. "To love thy neighbor as thyself" is the second great commandment. If this is our primary motive for service than we will truly be blessed. Sadly it often occurs that when we perform service with the idea in mind that we are serving God we often miss out on the real needs of who we are trying to serve. But if in the front of our minds is a love for those we serve than we will be more attune to spiritual promptings as to how to be of service to our fellowman. I believe that Christ more than anything wishes to see that we love each other.

If genuine love is our focus, than we will find that when we get to heaven we will be truly surprised as to how much Christ appreciates our efforts.

I guess what I'm trying to say is this: It is good to serve the Lord out of love for him, but if we do not perform our service out of love for our fellowman as well, than we will likely fail to cultivate relationships with the rest of God's family and we will miss out on truly coming to know the Lord.